T.I. has been hit with an array of charges stemming from his May arrest where the Atlanta rapper was involved in an altercation with his gated community’s security guard. The three misdemeanors laid down by Harris County prosecutors include simple assault, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness, according to TMZ.
“The misdemeanor charges brought against T.I. are baseless, ill-founded and unjustified. T.I. never threatened or acted in a violent manner towards Euwan James, the security guard,” Tip’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, says in a statement to Billboard. “We had sincerely hoped that the Henry County Solicitor had better, more important, things to do to serve the Henry County community than prosecute an African American over a verbal dispute during an encounter with a security guard who was asleep at his post and was unwilling to provide his name to T.I. so T.I. could report the guard’s misconduct to his employer.
“I can confirm that the Henry County, GA Solicitor General, who is responsible for handling misdemeanor cases, filed an accusation against T.I. alleging those three misdemeanor charges,” the statement continues. “But it is important to note that a misdemeanor accusation in GA is nothing more than a piece of paper drafted, signed and filed by a prosecutor. No independent finding is required or made by a grand jury or judge: the prosecutor alone decides to bring charges.”
Sadow also confirms that “the security guard was fired for the way he handled the situation with T.I..”
Tip was originally arrested during the wee hours of May 16. T.I. got into an argument when the community’s security guard refused to allow him onto the premises without a key. Things escalated when the Grand Hustle CEO didn’t appreciate how the guard treated his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris when she came to rectify the situation. Cops were eventually called, leading to Tip’s arrest.